After some recent landscaping at the former Forsyth County
Courthouse in downtown Cumming, a statue of Forsyth County’s namesake might be
a little harder to see, but that is expected to change soon.

Recent work tied to new
landscaping for the old courthouse, now used as headquarters for the Forsyth
County Sheriff’s Office, caused concern for some citizens after a number of
trees on the property were taken down.

Replacement trees were later added around the property,
which was part of the approved plan, including one directly in front of the
statue of John Forsyth, which some residents have pointed out would obscure the
likeness completely if the tree continued to grow on the same spot.
A recently-planted tree blocks the view of a statue of John Forsyth at the former Forsyth County Courthouse on Monday, Jan. 7, 2019.
- photo by Brian Paglia

Forsyth County District 4 Commissioner Cindy Jones Mills
said the planting of the trees was an oversight between different crews working
on the project.

“It appears that in the original documents of the landscape
design plan, the first design plans they were going to move the statue,” Mills
said. “So, they had one set of plans for moving the statue and one set of plans
for the placement of trees. Once they got into the design, the realized if they
moved the statue, it was going to put him too close to some type of utility
box, and that would, in fact, block the view.”

While it doesn’t
appear the tree will be there much longer, it won’t just be cut down and wasted
either.

“They had a location that needed a tree planted there
anyway,” Mills said. “They’re going to go back and move the tree that’s
blocking the view to another location.”